Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2020-21 Ceremony Preview: All Nine HOF Profiles Now Available

Barkley, 'JB', Cornelli, Finchem, Filippelli, Gaggioni, Gaudelli, George, and Sahara to be inducted Dec. 14

In a ceremony postponed by the pandemic, the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Class of 2020 will be inducted on Dec. 14 at the New York Hilton. In recent weeks, SVG has profiled the nine inductees and spotlighted their contributions to the industry. This Year’s Inductees are: Charles Barkley, James Brown, Don Cornelli, Tim Finchem, John Filippelli, Hugo Gaggioni, Fred Gaudelli, Phyllis George, and Tom Sahara. Check out links to their full HOF profiles below and CLICK HERE for more information on this year’s ceremony. 

Charles Barkley, the Voice of the NBA Player

Many sports fans know Charles Barkley’s manifold nicknames: Sir Charles, the Chuckster, the Round Mound of Rebound. Now they have a new one to learn: Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer. An unabashed analyst on one of the most successful studio shows in the history of sports entertainment, Inside the NBA, Barkley is always willing to discuss any topic at any time and go toe-to-toe with anyone in the business. His brutal honesty has provided unfettered insights into the psyche of a professional basketball player and a character who plays by his own set of rules.

Barkley is in his 16th season as an analyst on TNT’s Emmy Award-winning studio show Inside the NBA. Over his career, Barkley has earned a reputation as a straight shooter who offers solid insights along with plenty of humor and laughs. Since 2011, he has served as a studio analyst for CBS and Turner’s NCAA Division I Men’s Championship coverage.

CLICK HERE for Charles Barkley’s full profile

James Brown, All-World Host and Human Being

Integrity. Class. Warmth. Intelligence. All words one would use to describe James Brown before even touching his excellence as a sports broadcaster. A staple of the sports-television industry for nearly four decades, the man affectionately known simply as “J.B.” has established himself as the gold standard for the host of a live sports studio show. A winner of three Emmy Awards, Brown has been a fixture of NFL Sundays since 1994 and has hosted the Super Bowl show a record 10 times, including most recently at Super Bowl LV in February 2021.

“JB” serves as host for the CBS Television Network’s NFL pregame show, The NFL Today. He served as host of Fox NFL Sunday for 12 years prior to returning to CBS Sports in 2006 as host of The NFL Today and play-by-play announcer for the network’s coverage of college basketball, including the NCAA Tournament.

CLICK HERE for James Brown’s full profile.

Don Cornelli, The Lens Through Which America Watches Sports

Anyone who has watched an NFL broadcast in the last 30 years has seen a Don Cornelli shot. And they’ve also probably seen him in the shot: he’s the guy sprinting down the sidelines anticipating the next play, inches from the celebrating player who has just scored, or getting run over by a player tumbling out of bounds. Whether it’s on the football field, the hardcourt, the fairway, or anywhere else a sports event is taking place, Cornelli and his handheld camera can somehow be found in the right place at the right time to capture the money shot.

Cornelli has been a camera operator for NFL football for 30 years and has also covered a large number of other sports: NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, PGA, NASCAR, the Olympics, and the World Cup. Known for his handheld-camera work, Cornelli endeavors to get viewers as close as possible to the action and is a mainstay on the sidelines of some of the NFL’s biggest games.

CLICK HERE for Don Cornelli’s full profile.

John Filippelli, a New York Champion With Global Prestige

If, as former Speaker of the House of Representatives “Tip” O’Neill said, “all politics is local,” the same can certainly be said for sports. Even today, in a world unbound by geographical limitations, few things can unite a city or a country more than a championship run by a sports team donning its letters. For John J. Filippelli, those letters are an interlocking N and Y.

“Flip” is one of the more respected, influential, and accomplished leaders in the history of sports media, and his career is a rare one, spanning both the executive suite and the front bench. His current role as executive producer and president, production and programming, for New York-based YES Network, is an appropriate exclamation point on a career that has engrained memories in the minds of sports viewers and altered the careers of countless sports broadcasters for nearly five decades. Over his 46-year career, he has left an indelible mark on both the national and RSN stages, leaving a legacy of sustained excellence and consistency at NBC, FOX, ABC/ESPN, The Baseball Network, and the YES Network.

CLICK HERE to read John J. Filippelli’s full profile.

Tim Finchem, Transformative Leader

When Tim Finchem retired in 2017 after 22 years as PGA TOUR commissioner, he had transformed the game and its relationship with fans on the course, watching on TV, watching on portable devices, and, yes, the computer at the office for the diehards who want to watch golf play from sunrise to sunset.

He introduced the FedEx Cup Playoffs, offering the sport a greater sense of an actual season. The Presidents Cup gave the sport another great international competition. And the World Golf Championships created greater opportunities for international golfers to compete together beyond the majors. And the 1997 rights deal he negotiated changed the relationship between TV and golf forever as it required every round of every tournament be carried on TV. THE PLAYERS Championship also became a must-see TV event, part of Finchem’s impact that expanded far beyond the PGA TOUR as he left his mark on the global game. He spearheaded efforts to coordinate the bid for golf’s return to the Olympics, which became a reality in the 2016 Games after a 112-year absence.

CLICK HERE to read Tim Finchem’s full profile.

Hugo Gaggioni, Technical Visionary

Sports productions are divided into two camps: above the line and below the line. And then there is a third camp: the technology world of manufacturers and innovators who make the work of the other two possible. And when it comes to leaders from that camp, few are equal to Hugo Gaggioni, CTO, Imaging Products and Solutions Americas Professional Group, Sony Electronics.

The best way to sum up his career contributions is this: if you’ve ever seen a video image that has made you go “Wow,” odds are that, somewhere in the development chain, Gaggioni played a big part. Gaggioni joined Sony in 1988 and since then has been a key force in the company’s efforts around next-generation formats like the move to digital recording formats, HDTV, UHD, and more. He holds several patents and has authored more than 40 technical publications in the areas of video compression, digital filter banks, HDTV, and UHDTV devices and systems.

CLICK HERE to read Hugo Gaggioni’s full profile.

Fred Gaudelli, Father of the Modern Pro-Football Broadcast

Few — if any — individuals have had as indelible an impact on the look and feel of NFL broadcasts over the past three decades as Fred Gaudelli. The producer of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, ABC’s Monday Night Football, and ESPN’s Sunday Night Football has reimagined how viewers watch pro football, deploying groundbreaking technical innovations, inimitable storytelling tactics, and an impeccable sense of style to bring the game into the modern age for millions of fans.

Currently, Gaudelli is executive producer of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, having spent more than 30 years as lead producer for an NFL primetime game. A 24-time Emmy Award winner, Gaudelli has produced six Super Bowls (and will work his seventh in February).

CLICK HERE to read Fred Gaudelli’s full profile.

Phyllis George, Trailblazing Sportscaster

She was Miss America. She was a co-host on Candid Camera. But it wasn’t until Phyllis George made the move to The NFL Today in 1975 that her popularity became apparent: her presence on the show made it appointment viewing,

“In the East and Midwest,” says Rich Podolsky in his book You Are Looking Live: The Story of The NFL Today, “churchgoers rushed home in time to see it, and more attention meant more eyeballs watching and higher ratings.”

George broke through as a sportscaster in 1974 and, the following year, joined the team of The NFL Today. She played a key part of the show for the next three years, and again from 1980-84. She was an inspiration to a generation of women who followed her on air, changing sports broadcasting forever.

CLICK HERE to read Phyllis George’s full profile.

Tom Sahara, a Key Force in Operations

Like many an engineer, former Turner Sports VP, Operations and Technology, Tom Sahara had an inkling at a young age that he had a knack for engineering and broadcast technology. “One year, I got a transistor radio and I ended up taking it apart,” he recalls. “My mom said I always took everything apart and then, one day, I started putting everything back together. I guess I was always a tinkerer.”

Tinkering would eventually lead to a 20-plus–year career at Turner Sports and a role as a key force in the broadcaster’s becoming a top-notch sports powerhouse. And Sahara’s efforts at Turner Sports — particularly around developments related to HDTV, the move to digital, and next-generation audio — made him a leader on a global scale.

For 21 years, Sahara served as VP of Operations and Technology for Turner Sports where he oversaw the studio and remote broadcast facilities for Turner Sport’s live event coverage, as well as its online properties. He also played a key role in Turner’s production collaboration with CBS Sports on events like March Madness and the PGA Championship. Previously, he was host of technical operations of various venues for the 2000 Sydney Summer Games and 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. He served as Chairman of the SVG Advisory Board from 2013 to 2018.

CLICK HERE to read Tom Sahara’s full profile.